La Taverna del Quattro Mori - Ajijic

[jkgourmet]

Firstly, I must confess the truth. I am a Northern Italian food snob. I've lived in Philly within walking distance of Little Italy. I've dated guys who had Italian mothers and grandmothers who regularly cooked for me or sent the boyfriend home with leftovers that always found their way to my house. I've visited Northern Italy with native of Genoa. I've yet to find an Italian restaurant in Phoenix that lives up to what I want (okay, there was one place, but everyone found out about it, and the native Italian owners moved to Scottsdale, nearly doubled their prices, and went out of business at the beginning of the recession.)

We heard a lot of good things about La Taverna, but never rushed over. Last Sunday, we finally broke down and went for dinner. If this meal was at all representative of most of the food this restaurant serves up, we'll be back.

We've had the salads from La Taverna's sister restaurant - the pizza place in Las Riberas - and I would expect La Taverna's to be equally excellent. However, we weren't that hungry, so we just ordered entree's. The regular menu is large, including plenty of fish and vegetarian dishes. Four kinds of lasagna. Several pasta's made with Gorgonzola sauce (Yum!) Many dishes are spicy, and there are chili peppers to reflect the degree of spice (pepperoncin's are used for most of the spicy dishes).

Both of us selected items form the daily specials blackboard - a surprisingly long and interesting list. Included three veal dishes, lamb liver Venetian style, and spaghetti with clams. Husband ordered a veal chop - at only 95 pesos, this was irresistible. (The last time he ordered a veal chop in the states, it was an expense account dinner, so the $32 USD price tag didn't bother us.) This veal chop was not huge, but a good serving and nice, tender, lean meat. Perfectly cooked as ordered to medium rare. Salad on the side was (not surprisingly) delicious and lightly dressed in vinaigrette.

I often use white clam sauce as the 'gold standard' of northern Italian restaurants. When done properly, it's one of my favorite dishes. I'm usually disappointed, and before ordering, I asked the server to tell me how it was prepared. She carefully said it was 'not the usual white sauce - not creamy'. Instead, it was clams, clam broth, garlic, parsley and olive oil with some pepperoncini for a bit of heat. THAT'S the way it should be (for my tastes), so I took a chance. The pasta showed up with three enormous clams in the shell - as big as my palm - and I immediately began to worry. Clams that big are tough and chewy as rubber bands. I've no idea how they did it, but these were as tender as baby clams, but so large that they needed to be cut in half. The pasta was al dente, the sauce exactly as described - light, and just enough to cover the pasta with a bit extra, rather than so much that the pasta is like noodles in a soup. Lots of delicious sweet clam meat in the sauce. Large serving that I would order again in a heart beat. A HUGE surprise hit for me and even more delightful at the 110 pesos (or was it 120? No matter.)

Nice Montepulciano at about 170 or 180 pesos. Nice real Italian feeling atmosphere.

the only negative (and it's a small one) was the service. Rather Cold and aloof, though efficient. In the States, we might not even have noticed this, as it's par for the course. However, after 3 months here, I think we've become a little spoiled by the friendliness and owner-attentive service we receive in most Lakeside restaurants. It somehow didn't surprise us that at least two of the servers had accents that were as NOB as ours. This food is so good that the servers should be delighted to be part of this place, and I only wish they showed a little more warmth.

That said, we'd go back in a heartbeat.

[Guest RevImmigrant]

I've enjoyed (and reviewed) Quattro Mori before and enjoyed it very much. I usually order a veal dish since veal is so hard to find here. I would like to know where they get it.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, Jeanette.

[Atlas]

We love La Taverna and have never had a poor meal there. I especially enjoy his wine list since he buys from importers outside the area and has such a good selection. In the winter season he always has interesting specials such as wild boar or venison. The pasta is made fresh as is the sausage. We've always found the wait staff and Giuliano himself to be delightful.

[Denver]

Could someone please give me the location/address of La Taverna del Quattro Mori - Ajijic?

[jkgourmet]

Whoops! Sorry

Plaza de la huerta, ajijic

(across the street from hacienda ajijc and AMI hot dogs & deli). Lakeside on the carretrra

376-766-2848

[tigerlily]

Whoops! Sorry

Plaza de la huerta, ajijic

(across the street from hacienda ajijc and AMI hot dogs & deli). Lakeside on the carretrra

376-766-2848

As another frame of reference, it's on the Carretera just west of Rancho del Oro and La Tabarka restaurant and at the far end of the strip mall on the lake side of the street.

[Kevin K]

Thanks Jeanette for the nice review.

La Taverna has been the subject of much heated back-and-forth on this board, with most of the negative comments coming either from those who conflate Italian-American and Italian food (which have about as much to do with one another as Tex Mex does with Oaxacan mole), as well as occasional issues with the service, which (also in keeping with Italy) is a bit more formal and reserved. However in dozens of visits we've always found Giuliano and his wife to be very warm and welcoming, and the slightest bit of appreciation (a "grazie" or informed, appreciative comment about the food) has them beaming. The fact is they are clearly a bit weary, after all these years, of running the gauntlet, so to speak, between gringos who expect olive garden or spaghetti and meatballs and cheap Chianti in a flask and Mexicans who want to put chili sauce on everything.

My wife and I have spent a great deal of time in Italy both professionally and as food-oriented tourists, including trips to Piedmont and Emilia Romagna and much time in Tuscany. La Taverna reminds me very much of a basic Tuscan trattoria - something pretty amazing considering the lengths they must go to to source ingredients and wines here in Mexico. As you say the specials board is always the thing to check first, and in true Italian fashion often the simplest dishes are the most memorable. When acelgas (Swiss chard) is available they'll cook it down until it's meltingly tender and sauce it with nothing more than a bit of olive oil, limon and a dusting of real Parmigiano Reggiano - resulting in some of the best dark greens you'll ever eat.

While La Taverna has had to cave into the American expectation that pasta should be a main course, one can greatly improve the quality of one's dining experience there by doing as the Italians do and having pasta for a first course (perhaps sharing an order since they are so large), then choosing secondi (meat course) from the specials or regular menu. I sometimes wish they did more with beef or chicken but the veal and seafood choices are invariably fine, and they do have some spectacular specials in high season.

As another poster mentioned the wine list here is a model more local restaurants would do well to learn from. They go out of their way to source food-friendly wines at fair prices, and their house wine, instead of being Carlo Rossi or some other equally forgettable plonk, is a Nero d'Avola that's hearty and fresh (occasionally replaced by a more-than-decent Shiraz when their Italian supplier has outages).

La Taverna is the kind of place any American small town -and more than a few larger cities - would kill to have in their midst, and of course the same is true for their sister restaurant Pizzeria Toscana in Riberas. Perfect they may not be, but boy are we lucky to have them.

[G598738]

Very much agree. Wonderful to have them in Ajijic.

[tigerlily]

Very much agree. Wonderful to have them in Ajijic.

Ditto! They have come a long way since their opening cooking with a regular kitchen stove like we have in our homes. This restaurant has always been one of our favorites.

[Marley's Ghost]

Jeanette and KevinK have written better than I ever did when pointing out that there was more than one Italian sauce and even more than one proper Italian tomato sauce.

True enough that they are not perfect, and I've had a couple of dishes that failed, but put me down as one who loves this place, food and wine. We often order a starter, a pasta, a main and perhaps a desert. All of course to share.

[Travis]

We also enjoy La Taverna a LOT and don't know why it isn't packed with people when we go. But we tend to eat our big meal in the afternoon, so that may be why.

I I usually order a veal dish since veal is so hard to find here. I would like to know where they get it.

There's a commercial veal market in Guadalajara on the south-ish side of town. It's not far from the "other" commercial Fish Market (not the one in Zapopan), but I can't remember where exactly as I wasn't driving. I believe it's actually the veal and, ummm, goat market. And yes, you need to be prepared to see whole animals being unloaded off trucks and hanging in the puestos.

[howardF]

We also enjoy La Taverna a LOT and don't know why it isn't packed with people when we go. But we tend to eat our big meal in the afternoon, so that may be why.

There's a commercial veal market in Guadalajara on the south-ish side of town. It's not far from the "other" commercial Fish Market (not the one in Zapopan), but I can't remember where exactly as I wasn't driving. I believe it's actually the veal and, ummm, goat market. And yes, you need to be prepared to see whole animals being unloaded off trucks and hanging in the puestos.

It's on Avenida Gobenador Curiel south of Lazaro Cardenas. It's on the west side of the street just south of the railroad tracks. The fish market is just a bit further south on the east side of Curiel.

[Shira]

Once you are on Curiel loo for the sign for rastro and you are there.

[More Liana]

Once you are on Curiel loo for the sign for rasta and you are there.

Maybe the sign says rastro (slaughterhouse), not rasta (think dreadlocks).